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Buddy Carden

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"It's not a permanent fix, but hopefully it will save lives and that's the most important thing," said Buddy Carden, chief of the Bethsadia Volunteer Fire Department and an outspoken advocate for rerouting that section of Highway 278.

"I'm sure the new type of asphalt they are going to use will make some difference.Most of all, I'm looking forward to seeing some work get under way out there," Carden said.

While Bethsadia Fire Chief Buddy Carden says he's not sure who placed them there, he thinks they designate the 13 lives lost at the treacherous driving location in the last five years.

"I'm sure it was some of the family of people that were killed there that put them out," he said Wednesday."Outside of that, I don't know."

Carden, who has served as Bethsadia's fire chief for several years, drove the deadly stretch of roadway with his wife earlier this week, noting several flowered memorials on both sides of the Kugler Creek bridge.

"We counted 13 in all," he said."In the last five years, there's been 13 people that died there, so I figured they were putting a cross out for every person that died."

During his time as chief, Carden has worked all 13 fatal accident at the location and several serious, non-fatal accidents.

Over the years, the location has become renowned throughout Cullman County as being particularly deadly since the bridge sits at the bottom of a steep ravine and drivers must negotiate sharp turns to cross it - the location is particularly prone to semi-truck rollovers.

But Carden says his routine of working accidents at the bridge could soon be changing since the State Department of Transportation pushed up a road project to bypass the whole area.

The project will straighten the path that cars take and build a new bridge.The DOT is expected to begin purchasing land for the right of way this spring.

Several officials said the efforts of Bethsadia Fire Chief Buddy Carden led to the state finally dealing with the problem.Carden and others said more than 13 people have actually been killed at Kugler Creek over the years -- many more.

"I've been in and out of the fire department for 30 years," Carden said.

...

Carden said ADOT officials are staying in touch with him.He thanked the Cullman County Commission, state Sen.Zeb Little, state Rep.

Buddy Carden, chief of the Bethsadia Volunteer Fire Department, long ago lost count of the number of accidents his department has responded to in the vicinity of the bridge.

"I've been involved with Bethsadia Volunteer Fire Department for over 30 years.As a matter of fact, I helped organize the department and this area has always been dangerous," Carden said.

Carden says he believes the surface of the road through that tight curve is slanted in the wrong direction, which causes loads to shift on big trucks, particularly those traveling westbound.

"When that load shifts, it takes everything a driver can do to hold those big rigs on the road and sometimes they can't," Carden said."I've seen feed trucks overturn there, chicken haulers, log trucks, even a molasses truck a couple of years ago.I've also seen a number of fatalities -- too many fatalities."

Carden said he's not sure what it will finally take to correct the problems with the road, but thinks it's past time for local Cullman County legislators, the highway department and the governor to get involved.

"Congressman Aderholt has promised to get us money to build a bridge and take the two curves out of the road.What I'm afraid is they really don't want to do anything about it," Carden said.

"Rerouting the road won't solve the problem," Bethsadia Chief Buddy Carden said Saturday as he and others in the department served up pancakes and sausage for their annual fund-raiser.

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"It seems like we've got somebody's attention," Carden said."It's a shame it took another fatality to do it."

The Rev. Larry Stallings, pastor of Mount Olive Baptist Church in Jones Chapel, was killed Wednesday in a three-vehicle accident just west of the creek bridge.It was believed to be the 13th fatality at the site since 2000.But ask Carden and Assistant Chief Alan Edwards about Kugler Creek, and they'll say many more accidents occur that aren't deadly.

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"We work 20 to 25 wrecks for every one that has a fatality," Carden said.

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